Don't Retire Without Me
by Kessie-Louise
Summary: Tonight, the Battle Colosseum is alive. Behind the scenes, Pyrogen becomes reacquainted with an old friend -a friend once considered retired through many a gossip circle- before the two team up again for the fight.


Tonight, for the first time since the Trinity epidemic, the Battle Colosseum was alive.

The speakers were blasting a rather bass heavy version of 'We Will Rock You' that was sure to blow a fuse by the end of the night. It could be felt in every inch of the Battle Colosseum and then some- even in the preparation rooms where everything was lined with a silencing insulator.

But it was the sounds of the crowd themselves that made the Battle Colosseum come to life. Hollers, chants, even an overexcited scream or two while they pounded away to the beat of the song. The audience was ready, far more ready than what the combatants ever truly were.

Pyrogen arrived a bit late to the preparation room, but who he saw in there nearly shocked him into malfunction.

"Troilus?" the Mighty Number questioned, looking at the other bot in astonishment. At his voice, the other bot looked up and turned to face Pyrogen.

"Pyro!" he greeted happily, "How's my brother from another motherboard doing!"

Mighty Number One's only answer was a shocked stare.

Troilus only had one eye on his rather circular-shaped head. When he wasn't in battle, his frame was thin enough that it looked easy to break. Come time to fight though, his entire body would lay layer upon layer of pure petroleum against his frame, creating a thick outer covering. He could control this covering even when it wasn't directly attached to him as well- this particular tactic earned his the name 'Rainbow Devil' in some fan groups. He didn't like being called that, but when a patch of sun illuminated his body, well... Troilus unwillingly _became_ a rainbow due to his nature. And on any other day, Pyrogen would have loved to make fun of him for it.

But Troilus had gone missing for weeks before Trinity went berserk. It was without warning too, leaving many to think that he had been decommissioned- the colloquial term being 'retired' for those who regularly fought at the Colosseum. This sudden omission was concerning to the Mighty Number, as he and Troilus had been friends since their first tag team; before Cryosphere was even given a physical form.

"Are you sure you're up for this fight?" Pyrogen eventually questioned to his friend. "You were offline long before Trinity went berserk. Some of us even thought you were retired..."

"Retired?!" Troilus repeated with a bit of a snort. "Why would I retire and not drag you with me? You're practically my brother!"

Pyrogen rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "To be honest, that's what I was wondering." he admitted. "Just where _were_ you? Musta tried getting a link to you more than a dozen times before Trinity came along..."

"My doc was out for awhile." Troilus informed with with a small shrug. "And as a result, so was I."

"Doctor Lei?" Pyrogen inquired. Troilus nodded.

"Especially during the TD," the oil-based bot continued, "Lost a family member during that… Saw it with her own eyes. The poor thing..."

At this thought, the two went silent. The Trinity Disaster caused more issues and casualties than what most folks gave credit for. Many humans had found ways to see past the disaster to move on to their futures, but the robots themselves were not as lucky, due to how their memories were processed. Silently, a deep rift was cut between the two species as well, but this wasn't the time to be discussing that.

"What about you?" Troilus then piped up, hoping to deter the mood somewhat. "You were directly effected by the TD, perhaps I should be the one worrying about you!"

"Oh?" Pyrogen entertained.

"Don't want you bugging out on me during the tag team." Troilus agreed with a fairly cheeky expression. "Wouldn't be the first time I had to pull your weight, but geez man, you're pretty freaking heavy!"

"You're just a lightweight." Pyrogen snickered.

"At the moment!" Troilus rebutted. "You're forgetting the time that I picked up a guy weighing nearly a ton and tossed him in the opposite direction of the Colosseum!"

"I haven't forgotten," Pyrogen then claimed with a shake of his head, "Because it was my own brother you tossed."

"Mic needed to be set back a few pegs." Toilus carelessly declared as he stretched his arms above his head.

"He was only a week old." Pyrogen retorted, attempting to sound stern but inevitably failed. Truthfully, the event had been rather funny- if only because Mic needed to lower his ego after winning so many of his first battles at the Colosseum. It was the first time Troilus ever demonstrated that he was able to throw things much heavier than what he seemed to be, and the only time.

For all intents and purposes, Mighty Number Four did get off his winning high horse after that. To argue that it was a rather unfair way of going about it needed to be discussed for later.

Interrupting their thoughts, the door to their preparation opened, revealing a small human woman.

"You're needed in the arena within the next ten minutes." she informed them in a small voice. She was a real polite woman, if only a bit timid around the bots she worked with.

"Thank you Victoire." both bots responded to the assistant kindly. The girl lightly flushed before rushing back out to tell their competitors the same message.

"Well then, that's our cue." Troilus decided as he started to head toward the exit. "You ready Pyro?"

The Mighty Number nodded as he followed his friend out. "Let's do it." he agreed with a wide smile.

. . .

Most of the time spent during a battle was waiting for the crowd to die down enough to hear the announcer.

"And in the east corner, give a large round of applause to Might Number One, Pyrogen and the long awaited return of CDN 67-8.72.18, Troilus!"

The crowd went nuts. Over top of the noise, the announcer could just barely be heard saying, "Tonight, Pyrogen is being sponsored by SANDA Technologies, and Troilus is sponsored by Blaise Factories & Co. with special mention to his mysterious beneficiary, Doctor L!"

"Systems ready!" the announcer then declared, loud enough to silence the entire Colosseum.

"Don't bug out of me Pyro." Troilus snickered, getting the last word in before they began.

Although he didn't look at his partner, Pyrogen replied, "Don't retire without me Troilus." with a smirk. Troilus gave a rather smug expression and was about to say something before the announcer declared,

"Start!"

And just like that, for the first time since the Trinity Disaster, the Battle Colosseum was alive.


End file.
